Mayor Hank Snyder, who opposed lifting Dillsburg’s dry status, said tonight that the people had spoken – and they are thirsty.

“Let the people decide,” Snyder said, reacting to the vote. “That’s what they decided to do. I have to go with that.”

Yet, Snyder remains skeptical that a newly wet Dillsburg would attract a major league chain to the borough’s side of bustling Route 15.

“People have big visions of a Taj Mahal,” Snyder said while votes were still being cast. “I don’t see it. I have yet to hear anybody say a Red Lobster wants to come in. They act like Applebee’s or somebody is going to run to Dillsburg. It’s wishful thinking.”

Many other residents supporting alcohol sales say opening the beer- and alcohol-banned borough to at least one licensed establishment would allow residents to keep their dining dollars at home – and perhaps grow business and jobs in Dillsburg, while shrinking their borough tax bills.

“Whoever gets that liquor license is going to help pay my taxes,” said voter Jed Shumaker. “It’s business, and we need a nice place to sit down and have a wine with dinner.”

But even the positive vote in today’s primary will not swarm the borough in beer and booze. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board typically allows one liquor license for every 3,000 inhabitants in a given county. That would mean the borough, with a population of roughly 2,500, would have just one retail liquor license available.

And it would only open the door for liquor licenses in a small area of the borough. The area, zoned commercial highway and mixed-use center, is mostly along Route 15 and also runs on parts of West Church and North Second streets. That means it would still be out of the question for a new bar or an existing business on Baltimore Street in the town center to obtain a liquor license.

Dallastown in southern York County also approved a liquor referendum in today’s primary, with 56 percent voting yes and 43 percent voting no.

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